Low tow cited in glider crash

An Oahu glider accident in May that caused significant aircraft damage but no injuries was caused by the pilot's inadequate control during a forced landing downwind, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

At about 2:30 p.m. May 26, the glider took off under tow at Dillingham Airfield, but the tow rope broke about 500 feet above ground, the NTSB reported last week.

The 17-year-old private pilot said he tried to make a 360-degree turn back to the runway but had to land downwind on another runway after making a 180-degree turn.

After the touchdown, as the glider was slowing down, the pilot lost control, and the craft ran off the runway and hit an unattended parked glider.

The glider had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight, the pilot reported. According to the NTSB, the pilot had a private certificate and 54 hours of logged flight time.

Scott Blackley, owner of North Shore Aviation, who is also repairing the glider, said the pilot was a Boy Scout.

July 21 eruption site still flows

Lava continued flowing yesterday from the site of a July 21 eruption on the Big Island, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

At the eruption site, east of Puu Oo crater, a flow of lava from a fissure spread about 1 kilometer to the northeast across older lava flows from Kupaianaha and Puu Oo.

At about 1 a.m. yesterday, the lava reached a moderate-size kipuka, or island of land surrounded by earlier lava flows, that started to burn.

The Kahaualea Natural Area Reserve, where the eruption is located, has been closed until further notice because conditions are extremely dangerous, the Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a news release.

Earthquake activity at Puu Oo remained slightly elevated. Kilauea summit continued to deflate.

State accurate on food stamps

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will award Hawaii a $567,407 bonus for having one of the best payment accuracy rates in the nation last year for the Food Stamp program.

The state Department of Human Services, which administers the program, has an error rate of 3.4 percent -- well below the national target goal of 6.2 percent.

The USDA is awarding seven bonuses for accuracy during 2006. South Dakota topped the list, while Hawaii had the seventh-best performance.

In January 2006, DHS received a bonus of nearly $508,000 from the USDA for increasing access to food stamps. There are currently more than 89,000 Hawaii residents who receive the stamps.

Police, Fire, Courts

Star-Bulletin staff

NEIGHBOR ISLES

Crash victim dies of injuries

A 33-year-old Waimea, Hawaii, man died yesterday from his injuries after being ejected from his car in an accident early Thursday morning.

Joseph Theodore Herrold was driving a 2004 Hyundai four-door sedan north on Route 190 when his car ran off the road and overturned, Big Island police said. He was not wearing a seat belt.

Rescue personnel responded to a 2:27 a.m. call and transported Herrold to North Hawaii Community Hospital. He was later flown to the Queen's Medical Center, where he died at 4:27 a.m. yesterday.

Police believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash, the Big Island's 20th highway fatality this year.

EAST HONOLULU

Woman, 71, pulled from Hanauma dies

A 71-year-old woman died yesterday after bystanders pulled her out of the water at Hanauma Bay.

Paramedics took Michiko Nakajima of Tokyo to Straub Clinic & Hospital in critical condition at about 12:30 p.m. She died at the hospital, said Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokesman Bryan Cheplic.

HONOLULU

Store worker held in theft of jewelry

A 25-year-old Manoa woman was arrested Saturday for allegedly stealing jewelry from a Waikiki store where she was employed.

From July 16 to 21, the woman, a sales associate at a store at 2330 Kalakaua Ave., allegedly took a piece of jewelry she liked, police said. She allegedly sent the item to the store's shop for adjustment and listed herself as the owner. A store inventory found the item missing, and another employee recalled seeing the woman drop the jewelry into her purse.

Store management confronted the woman, and she allegedly confessed to taking the item. She was released Saturday night pending investigation for second-degree theft.

CENTRAL OAHU

Stolen car's driver hits police vehicle

A car that was reported stolen crashed head-on into a police officer's car in Waipahu early yesterday morning.

At about 1:30 a.m., police officers ran a license plate check on a car and learned it was reported stolen. When the officers turned on their lights to pull the car over, the car turned onto a side street and collided with another police car at Waikele Road and Waipahu Street.

The police officer and the driver, a 20-year-old Waipahu man, were taken to Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi with bruises and abrasions and were released that night.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of unauthorized control of a vehicle, refusing to stop, resisting arrested and driving without a license.

Firefighters search for Wahiawa hikers

Firefighters were searching by air and ground yesterday for two stranded hikers on a Wahiawa trail. The hikers called firefighters at about 7:20 p.m. from a trail off the end of California Avenue, said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Frank Johnson. They maintained phone contact with firefighters, directing them to their location.

HFD dispatched a helicopter, while an engine company assisted on the ground. Firefighters were still searching for the missing hikers at 9:25 p.m.

Man, 53, arrested in sexual abuse

Police arrested a 53-year-old Wahiawa man Saturday afternoon for allegedly repeatedly sexually abusing two young family members last year.

From January to September 2006, the man allegedly sexually abused a 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy. The assaults were disclosed this month, and the suspect turned himself in when police contacted him. He was arrested on suspicion of four counts of first-degree sex assault and five counts of third-degree sex assault.